Children in poverty

After reaching 23 percent in 1993—the highest rate since 1964—child poverty (the percentage of children in families with income below 100 percent of the federal poverty level) fell to 16 percent in 2000. The rate then rose slowly through 2004, to 18 percent. Soon after, the child poverty rate began to reflect the most recent economic downturn. From 2006 to 2010, child poverty increased from 17 to 22 percent of all children under age 18, before declining from 2010 to 2017, to 17 percent. A small uptick in 2014, to 21 percent, may be attributed to a change in income reporting.